New Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge

In December 2024, U.S. Department of the Interior announced the establishment of Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge as the 573rd and newest unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

A newly acquired 31-acre parcel is the first of several donations that will become part of the new refuge and provide crucial protected habitat for threatened and endangered species and expand outdoor recreational opportunities for the 10 million people who visit, live and work in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan region.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) worked together with the Southern Maryland Conservation Alliance (SMCA) to establish priorities for habitat management and land acquisition for the new refuge, as reflected in the final Land Protection Plan.

The 31-acre parcel near Nanjemoy in Charles County, Maryland, is the first of several intended donations by The Nature Conservancy that over the next few months will permanently protect and conserve more than 300 acres of interior forest and riparian wetlands habitat, supporting northern long-eared bats, forest-interior songbirds, box turtles, and several species of salamanders that are of conservation concern.

USFWS expects to continue working with partners and willing sellers to secure voluntary conservation of up to 40,000 acres of important wildlife habitat within four watershed-based focus areas in Anne Arundel, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties.

The areas identified for conservation through this new national wildlife refuge support a wide range of species including waterfowl, shorebirds, forest-interior and grassland-dependent birds, and threatened and endangered species such as the dwarf wedgemussel, Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon, puritan and northeastern tiger beetles, and the northern long-eared bat.

More than half of Maryland’s forests and wetlands have been lost in the conversion of important natural areas to other land uses, with more than 1 million acres developed since 1973.

The region’s population is projected to surpass 20 million people in the next 10 years. Such habitat loss represents the primary threat to Maryland’s fish and wildlife and the communities and local economies that depend upon them.

source: U.S. Department of the Interior